


I'm not Dangerous (so Baby, Don't Worry)

by literalhoneytrash



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Little Red Riding Hood Fusion, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Awkward, M/M, PLS HAVE MERCY, Red Riding Hood AU, Tiny bit of Angst, cringy jokes, fluff?, i cant tell good jokes, kiho, red riding hood kihyun, soft???, this is my first fic, wolf - Freeform, wolf jooheon, wolf wonho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-24 13:40:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18165923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literalhoneytrash/pseuds/literalhoneytrash
Summary: "Do you want to know what's bigger than my hands?" the wolf asked teasingly, raising his eyebrows to Red Riding Hood."No," Red Riding Hood said.





	I'm not Dangerous (so Baby, Don't Worry)

**Author's Note:**

> Title is based on english translation of Monsta X's STUCK

It was a sunny day and a flock of finch was singing with the morning breeze, making a melodious hymn to start the villagers’ day. Some clouds could be seen, teaming up to make a cotton on the blue sky. People had started their day, leaving their warm and nice bed to plunge themselves into the labours they had.

It was no different with the young man who was being accompanied with the silence echoing in his small house. The man who was called as Red Riding Hood had finished making an apple pie for his grandmother who lived in the opposite side of the forest. The grandmother was the only relative he had and it was his responsibility to make sure his grandmother have eaten some consumable food instead of an old bread and a mouldy cheese which she always claimed as the-best-aged-cheese. Who knew how many years she had kept it. He remembered how stupefied he was when he found out the cheese had some blue spots on it.

He remembered how his grandmother would only laugh loudly at him, saying that he didn’t have a palette of a noble who ate rotten yet luxury cheese.

He put the food he had prepared inside the basket to make sure he won’t forget a thing. He grabbed his red linen cloak which was used to be his mother’s together with him, then putting up the hood over his head. The Little Red Riding Hood was ready to start his journey.

 

The walk in the forest was an unpleasing moment for the young man. He wouldn’t say he wasn’t nervous at all especially for passing through a forest that was filled with wild animals and big trees protecting him from the blinding sunshine. He hummed under his breath, trying to focus on other things except how he was an easy prey to get eaten by the predators. He tried to focus on the path to his grandmother’s house, recalling which turns he should take and what he should do if he encountered with a hungry bear or even a wolf.

“You’re gonna be okay. Just focus on the road here, go left and then go straight until you see a house and we’ll relax there with our beloved grandmother,” he whispered to himself, giving some moral support to no one but himself, “there is no wolf in this forest, there’s no bear also. Even if they really live in here, let’s just hope they’re full enough or maybe they won’t put any interest in human’s flesh,”

He breathes in. He breathes out. Maybe it was a mistake to keep wearing the red cloak that even made him stand out in the middle of the woods. Maybe Red Riding Hood was getting more nervous after he heard rustling noise around him. The birds scattered at the sound, frantically escaping from the scene and leaving The Red Riding Hood by his own.

“I believe it’s only the wind,” he mumbled.

He scanned every corner he could see, turning around, but he didn’t see a creature in the forest. His breath was getting ragged, wanting to shout at the top of his lungs to scare anything that was brave enough to do the trick to the Red Riding Hood.

“Whoever or whatever you are, if you have lots of confidence to scare me, then fuck you!”

The rustling sound was getting louder. It seemed like the nature picked his anger in his chest and responded to him—either fighting _with_ him or _against_ him. Red Riding Hood didn’t take a single second to blink his eyes. His grip on the basket was tighter, he clenched his jaw. His heart was beating faster, thumping against his ribs. His chest was going to explode in a minute—he wanted to pass out, but he was on his legs, standing still—until a low yet loud growl was caught by his ears.

A growl that was inhuman, a growl that sent Red Riding Hood’s spine to curl into a ball, a growl that made his heart wanted to jump from its place to his throat. The Red Riding Hood could hear its sound, but it hadn’t showed itself yet.

“Show yourself! I’m not scared of you!”

He waited for five seconds, ten seconds, until it stood up right across Red Riding Hood’s eyes. Behind big trees and wild bushes, there it was, standing on its two legs, looking like a human and staring right into Red Riding Hood’s brown eyes. A man, with a pair of wolf ears on top of his head, was staring back at him. He smirked, tilted his head, and without a warning, he lurched towards Red Riding Hood who was glaring at him. He should be scared by the appearance of the strange man, but it would mean that he had surrendered if he showed any sign of being frightened.

The man flashed his fangs, eyes were sharp only looking at his prey, and in a blink of an eye, Red Riding Hood raised his hand and slapped the man on his cheek. The man let out a whimpered like a sad dog and lied down on the ground, holding his cheek. Red Riding Hood once again breathed roughly, looking at the man with unbelievable feelings in his stomach. He took a step back, didn’t want to help him by giving a hand or checking on his condition. While looking at the whimpering man, Red Riding Hood noticed a thing that made his eyes even bigger than before. The man had a tail. A tail that looked similar with a wolf’s tail.

“What are you?”

“Why did you slap me so fucking hard? It hurts like hell!” the man whimpered loudly, now looking at Red Riding Hood.

“Why did you come at me like that? You deserve it! I was protecting myself from you!” Red Riding Hood shouted back.

“A handsome wolf like me doesn’t deserve a slap from anyone, including you!”

Red Riding Hood had opened his mouth, ready to reply the man with some harsh words, but something caught his mind. _A handsome wolf_? Did he mishear the man’s word? Had he become his grandmother who had a hearing problem?

“Repeat.”

“Huh?”

“Repeat what you said earlier!”

“ _A handsome wolf like me doesn’t—_ ”

Red Riding Hood didn’t mishear it. At least he knew he wasn’t _that_ old to have a hearing problem. He was relieved, but that feeling vanished as soon as possible as he realized the person he slapped was a wolf. A _werewolf_. A _fucking_ werewolf.

“I’m dreaming, aren’t I? I haven’t waken up from my bed, I haven’t made a big apple pie for my grandmother, I haven’t cleaned the house, I’m still in my bed, I’m still dreaming,” Red Riding Hood was mumbling, started fumbling with the fabric of his cloak.

“Wow, young man,” the werewolf sighed, “I need you to calm down because now, you’re a mumbling mess even though you just literally slapped me on the cheek several minutes ago,”

The man tried his best to stand up, making a beeline towards Red Riding Hood. His eyes weren’t as intimidating as before, but Red Riding Hood still couldn’t trust the werewolf after he was almost eaten by the man. In his head, there was a big sign above his head saying that he was a prey, a target of a predator that was standing less than 5 meters in front of him.

“If you’re getting closer to me, I won’t hesitate to slap you on your other cheek,” Red Riding Hood threatened him, glaring until his face was getting red because of the rage inside his chest.

“Okay, okay, you need to stop glaring at me. Between the both of us, you’re the one who need to control your anger. Don’t stress out that tiny body of yours to hold that much of negative energy,”

“Between the both of us, you’re the one who need to shut your mouth because I’ll definitely sew your mouth,”

“Calm down, little boy,”

“What did you call me? _Little boy_? Listen to me, big wolf, there’s a thing called karma and that’s the only thing you’ll get,”

The man smiled cockily, put both his hands on his waist and looking at Red Riding Hood with a gleam of amusement in his eyes. “I hope your name is karma.”

“Fuck you.” Red Riding Hood said it loud enough to be heard by the buff werewolf.

His last message was heard clearly by the man. He laughed in a way that could make Red Riding Hood’s blood boiling. He knew it was a pointless mission to argue with the man so he left without a word, continuing his journey. He clenched his jaw, determined to reach his grandmother’s house as soon as possible.

“Hey, why didn’t you wait for me?” called the man.

Red Riding Hood didn’t spare a glance to his back instead taking faster steps to _politely_ run away from the werewolf. He could hear the same voice continuously calling for his attention, but what was the point of wasting your time to wait for a stranger you met in a forest? There was none.

And so, Red Riding Hood kept on walking. If the wolf wanted to follow him around like a duckling following its mother, then let him be. He didn’t have time to handle the man. As Red Riding Hood’s brown eyes caught an old house in the middle of the forest, his face lit up. He couldn’t wait to see his grandmother and dropped the food he had made in the dawn for the old lady. He wanted to see his grandmother ate a real thing beside some old bread and low quality cheese she had found years ago in her cupboard.

“Red Riding Hood!” called the man who was catching his breath after a long run to chase Red Riding Hood.

Red Riding Hood stopped on his track, finally giving a side glance at the man. He kept his mouth shut, didn’t want to waste energy to reply to the man’s call.

“This is your destination?”

“Yes,”

“Who are you visiting?”

“My grandmother,”

“There’s an old woman living in here? I thought this house was abandoned for years,”

“The fact that you didn’t know there is someone who’s living in this place actually reliefs me a lot. That means you didn’t get to eat her,”

The werewolf shrugged and followed Red Riding Hood to walk to the house. Red Riding Hood lifted his fist, knocking on the thick wood material making the sound echoed through the forest.

“Grandmother! It’s me!” Red Riding Hood shouted before he finally opened the door with a key in his hand.

“You have a key to your grandmother’s house! Is this the reason why she has never left the house?”

“Can you please stop being so stupid? This is a spare key,” said Red Riding Hood, “and you, _wolf boy_ , wait here. Do not step into the house, don’t give her a heart attack by showing up to her with your appearance like this,”

Red Riding Hood scanned the wolf from head to toe using his eyes, looking at the pair of black ears on top of his head a bit longer, then his eyes went to check on his _actually_ handsome face, and he didn’t need to check on the ripped muscle under the clothes he was wearing—but at the end of the day, he still took a look on it and he could feel how the wolf was giving zero effort to suppress his smile.

“Okay,” he said with a big stupid smile which actually triggered Red Riding Hood’s blood to quickly move to his cheeks, “I’m going to wait for you,”

Red Riding Hood went in, not letting the wolf to see him getting flustered over his stupid smile. He closed the door behind his back and walked to the bedroom with a big smile on his lips. The door was ajar and he peeked through it before he softly called for his grandmother.

The old lady was wide awake and gave Red Riding Hood the best and sweetest smile she had. “Hello, Kihyun.”

 

 

The black haired werewolf was standing outside the house, watching his surroundings with eyes full with awareness. From a distance, he could hear a low growl from the forest. It sounded like there was another wolf, watching him with the intimidating eyes that could lure everyone into their trap. His nose picked an unfamiliar scent—he was sure it wasn’t Red Riding Hood’s—and it made him scrunched his nose, searching for the owner of the strong scent. 

He shouldn’t walk too far from the house. It may bring other predators to start noticing the human’s existence and wanting to eat him. The wolf couldn’t let that happen. He clenched his fists, puffing up his chest to make him looked even bigger. He squinted his eyes, searching for the intruder, and finally meeting with two pairs of sharp eyes. They resembled the common wolf’s eyes, he was sure.

“Who are you?” asked him, “my name is Hoseok,”

Hoseok was confident when he thought the wolf across him was only by itself until he saw two monstrous wolf standing side by side, showing their fangs. Hoseok kept his smile up, trying to gain their trust as the three of them were wolves. It should be easy, as long as Hoseok could make them speak, he would be fine.

The other wolves shifted to their human form, standing on two legs instead of four. A wolf had light brown hair and the other was silver haired. Hoseok wouldn’t even hesitate to call them as magnificent creatures. The rumbling couldn’t be heard anymore. The only sound that could be heard was the breeze ruffling the leaves. Hoseok stepped forward, towering the two other men with his power.

“Tell me your name and no one will get hurt,”

“Jooheon,” the silver haired man said, “and this one is Changkyun,”

“We smelled a human in that house, is that correct?” Changkyun asked with deep voice.

“Yeah,” Hoseok answered, “but if you want to eat him, you _can’t_ ,”

Changkyun raised his eyebrows. “Why?”

“He’s mine.” Hoseok smirked, making Jooheon and Changkyun rolled their eyes and snorted.

“You’re telling us that _that_ human is your dinner?” Jooheon asked.

“I’m glad you’re smart enough to know the meaning of my words,”

“Listen.” Changkyun crossed his arms, slowly getting annoyed by the conversation he had with Hoseok. “ _Your_ dinner is _our_ dinner too.”

Hoseok gritted his teeth. “If I succeeded on bringing him to you, will I get to eat him too?”

“Sure,” Jooheon answered, “we’ll work together as a team,”

Hoseok smiled. “Nice to meet you, guys.”

 

 

Jooheon and Changkyun went to hide from Red Riding Hood, trusting Hoseok to serve them a human flesh for the amazing dinner they would have tonight. They didn’t know how many meat and fat the human had, but if they got a chance to eat from a human, they would be really satisfied. 

Hoseok was still waiting Red Riding Hood outside the house. He started tapping his right foot, getting impatient. Maybe Red Riding Hood was having an excellent bonding time with his grandmother, maybe the wolf was filled with nervousness to the fact that there were two other wolves which were waiting to have a taste of the human’s flesh or _maybe_ Hoseok was just trying too hard to protect Red Riding Hood. Hoseok saw Jooheon and Changkyun peeped from the bushes, giving sharp glances to the door and Hoseok. If Hoseok decided to run away, of course Jooheon and Changkyun would take him down and barge into the house to kill both Red Riding Hood and his poor grandmother.

Suddenly, the door was opened with Kihyun pulling his hood up and a basket on his hand. Hoseok could barely breathe. He waited until Red Riding Hood finished locking up the door and Hoseok could see a slight annoyance in the human’s eyes. The wolf couldn’t wait anymore, but it may be a big mistake if he took Red Riding Hood to escape without thinking about the grandmother’s safety too.

“Why are you still here? I thought you were getting bored on waiting for me,” Red Riding Hood remarked.

“Let’s go.” Hoseok pulled Red Riding Hood’s wrist, making the other gasped.

“Let me go!”

“For the first time, please trust me,” the wolf whispered lowly, “we’re going to escape,”

Before Kihyun could reply him with a single word, he had ran fast, still holding on Kihyun’s wrist. They were running to the forest behind the house, trying not to be seen by Jooheon and Changkyun. If those two wolves noticed that Hoseok didn’t keep his promise, he would be dead in their hands.

But, Hoseok was unbothered with the fact that he was putting up with _two_ wolves at the same time. Not when Red Riding Hood’s life was on the edge.

“You said we were escaping,” Kihyun was trying his best to speak so the wolf could hear his voice, “but what are we escaping from?”

Hoseok threw a grin to the human before answering, “wolves!”

Kihyun turned his head to the back, finally looking at the two big creatures which were running towards them with so much passion and anger. “You’re _also_ a wolf!”

“I need you to focus on running, then I’ll open a long session for you to ask me whatever you want! Deal?”

Kihyun was staring at the wolf speechlessly but ended up nodding towards the request. Hoseok flashed a quick smile to the human, then turned back his head to look ahead.

“You fucker!” A rough shout was heard behind them, giving chills to Hoseok’s spine. “What a fucking bastard!”

“Stop running away from us and hand us the human!”

Well, hoping in a dangerous situation where it held your life and death may not be a perfect thing to do. Maybe, his hope to successfully escape from the two men was only a wishful thinking. He took faster steps, running until he couldn’t feel his legs anymore.

“A piece of shit that can’t keep his promise should be killed!”

Hoseok gripped Red Riding Hood’s wrist tighter, getting a hiss from the boy behind him. He wasn’t going to let go anytime soon, not until both of them were safe enough to take a breath. The wind blew even stronger than before, it felt like the nature wasn’t on their side. Hoseok cursed under his breath, tugging Red Riding Hood to run closer to him. He turned his head to check on the human’s condition and his eyes were meeting with two pairs of beautiful eyes that were squinted preventing the dust to slip into his eyes. The dark brown hair he had was being blown by the strong wind, showing off his thick eyebrows. His beautiful red coloured cloak was hanging around his neck, but it made Hoseok cursed even louder because Red Riding Hood’s cloak actually had made their steps slower.

“Hey, can you run a bit faster?” Hoseok asked.

“Pardon my short legs, but I _can’t_!” Kihyun screamed on top of his lungs, “this is my fastest run!”

“Why didn’t you leave your empty basket in your grandmother’s place?” Hoseok asked after he noticed Kihyun was still holding on the basket tightly with his other hand.

“Because without it, I can’t bring any food to my grandmother again!"

Hoseok huffed. There was no way they could continue running away without taking any rest. Kihyun started tugging back his hand, trying to slow down the pace but Hoseok just _couldn’t_. With two hungry wolves were tracking up on them, they shouldn’t stop running until Hoseok had made sure that his Red Riding Hood was safe and far enough from the threat.

He once again turned his head back, spotting Jooheon and Changkyun now as the wolves, chasing Hoseok and Kihyun on four legs. They were growling, trying to scare their targets. Hoseok had decided that he wouldn’t waste any energy on replying them with growling too. Kihyun, on the other hand, was getting tired. His breathing was ragged, sweating all over his pretty face.

“Are you tired?” Hoseok asked softly, getting a weak nod from the other, “let me carry you,”

“Huh?”

“Come on,”

“No way! I’m not going to let you carry me while we’re running like this!”

“I _insist_.”

Without letting Kihyun to decline his offer for the second time, Hoseok slowed down and brought Kihyun’s body into his arms. Red Riding Hood squealed in fear, closing his eyes and gripping tight on Hoseok’s neck for dear life as Hoseok started running again. The monstrous growl was ringing inside the human’s head making him buried his head further onto the wolf’s neck.

Hoseok kept running, taking some turns to confuse the wolves. His legs were going to give out, his arms were getting tired by carrying Red Riding Hood, but he couldn’t let the wolves take Red Riding Hood away from them. Hoseok ran faster and when he turned his head to his back, he almost couldn’t see the wolves anymore. He turned left, hiding himself and Red Riding Hood in the denser part of the forest. Hoseok wished the wolves wouldn’t find them.

The wolves didn’t waste any second to wait, he scurried deeper into the forest for cover to find his beloved home—a cave. He laid Red Riding Hood’s down on the ground, waiting for the human to open his eyes. Red Riding Hood was still closing his eyes tightly and stiffened his body. Hoseok smiled at the trembling human and couldn’t help himself to keep himself from caressing Red Riding Hood’s red cheeks. He noticed how Kihyun flinched at the touch, but it didn’t make him pull his hand away.

“Pretty Red Riding Hood,” he called softly, “will you open your eyes for me?”

“Is it safe already?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s already safe for now,”

The answer made Kihyun opened his eyes quickly, making the wolf took his hand from the human’s face and chuckled. Red Riding Hood sat up, hugging his basket tightly on his lap as he tried to make sure the basket isn’t damaged.

“I was so scared and I almost passed out by running that fast!”

“I know,” Hoseok replied with a fond smile on his face.

“What would I do if they really took me to their place and ate me?” Kihyun ruffled his dark hair, groaning after he realized he just made a mess of himself.

Hoseok was staring at him, sitting next to the human, but gave no answer to the question. He thought Red Riding Hood was questioning to himself rather than asking it to Hoseok so he kept his lips sealed.

Kihyun lifted his head, now looking at the wolf with the big eyes and plump lips on his face. Looking back at the gigantic canine ears on his head was ridiculous. Kihyun had asked a stupid question about hungry wolves to _a wolf_. He felt even more ridiculed when the wolf was gazing at him instead of saying something to him.

“I didn’t realize I was _this_ stupid until now,” Kihyun said loudly, throwing his hands to the air, “I’m staying at a cave with a wolf that could eat me in a second,”

“Huh?”

“You’re a wolf,” Kihyun remarked.

“Yes,”

“You’re going to eat me, aren’t you?”

Rule number one, you shouldn’t have asked about _that_ silly thing to a wolf. Of course he were going to eat Kihyun.

The wolf shrugged. “I _was_ going to, but I’m not really hungry now.”

“You’re a bad liar, mister,” Kihyun huffed, “I know, one day, sooner or later, you’ll eat me. Am I correct or am I _correct_?”

“Depends. I’m not a fan of human’s flesh. Other wolves may find human’s flesh are appetizing, but I don’t,”

Red Riding Hood squinted his eyes to the wolf, still wouldn’t believe him. After a long time of looking at the werewolf, Kihyun then turned his eyes to the ground. Hoseok understood how Red Riding Hood felt about trusting a stranger—a wolf, especially—so he didn’t talk about wolves’ diet anymore.

“Are you hurt?” Hoseok asked, couldn’t put his hand near Kihyun.

“No,”

“Okay.” Hoseok stood up. “Let me take you home.”

“I can get to the village by my own.” Kihyun followed Hoseok to stand up. “I don’t need your company.”

Hoseok smirked, putting his hands on his waist. “Said the one who almost passed himself out because of running.”

Kihyun’s eyes went bigger and his face was flushed, surprised by the low blow the wolf had given to him. “That’s because you forced me to run without explaining things to me! I wasn’t prepared, I hadn’t done any stretching!”

Hoseok rolled his eyes, still having the same amusement on his face. “Yeah, yeah, keep talking. Let’s go, I need you to get back home since it is getting dark.”

Hoseok held out his hand to Red Riding Hood, letting the human to take his hand. Kihyun was left with no choice except to take the wolf’s bigger hand on his and he could see a big smile from the wolf which made his brain stopped working for a while. It was fluttering to see a big bad wolf giving Red Riding Hood lots of sweet smiles even though he couldn’t forget the fact that this wolf would really eat him as a dinner one day.

“What a big hands you have over there, Mister Wolf,” Red Riding Hood said flatly, getting a smile from the wolf.

“Let’s get going,” the wolf said, guiding both of them through the forest.

 

 

It was uncomfortable for both of them to walk hand in hand in the middle of the woods. In his left hand, Kihyun was holding the empty basket, meanwhile his right hand was holding the black haired werewolf’s callused hand. It was different with Kihyun’s soft, smooth, and smaller hands. Kihyun took some details while holding the man’s hand even though he knew it was an inappropriate thing to do. 

The wolf started humming melodious notes softly. It was like he didn’t want to scare the birds which were watching them from the trees. Kihyun didn’t know what was the song, but he noticed how soothing the wolf’s voice. It wasn’t rough like a wolf’s growl and Kihyun took a liking on his voice.

Listening to a person humming a song was great, but there was a conflicted feeling inside Red Riding Hood’s heart. Was the whole escaping scene a scam to trap him? Did the wolf act nicely to Red Riding Hood only for advantages?

“Stop furrowing your eyebrows.”

The wolf suddenly stopped humming, now looking at Kihyun’s shorter figure. Red Riding Hood knew he was pierced with the wolf’s gaze, but he shouldn’t fall for it. He kept his eyes on the track, not wanting to make any eye contact with the stranger.

“Stop telling me to stop doing things,”

“If you keep doing that thing to your eyebrows, you will get wrinkles on that place,” the wolf replied.

Kihyun was annoyed, sure, but he wasn’t going to reply the wolf’s word. He was focusing on the road, trying to forget the reality that he was stuck with a wolf on his side.

“You know,” the wolf continued, “if you have some questions for me, you can ask,”

“Why should I trust a wolf?” Kihyun asked without wasting any chance.

The wolf smiled, turning his head towards his front “I knew you would ask me things.”

Red Riding Hood frowned. The wolf was trying to deflect from his question and Kihyun should had known about it. Why did he bother to ask anyway? Asking things that wouldn’t bring any answer to him was a waste and it disappointed him.

“I’ve never said that you should trust a wolf.” The man was swinging both of their tangled hands forward and backward, making Kihyun was more than annoyed. “You shouldn’t trust a wolf, but I can be the _person_ you should trust.”

“It doesn’t make any sense. You’re a wolf too, what’s the point? I don’t even know your name,”

“If I tell you my name, you should tell your name, too,” Hoseok said, “deal?”

Red Riding Hood shrugged, then said, “whatever,”

“My name’s Hoseok,”

“Okay, Hoseok, look like we’ve reached the village! You should leave now, shoo shoo,”

Hoseok opened his mouth widely, his face showing an expression which told Red Riding Hood that he was absolutely betrayed. “That’s unfair! I haven’t got your name yet!”

“Life is unfair, in case you’ve never experienced life before,” Kihyun said with a smug smile on his face, making Hoseok frowned even deeper than before.

“Then, what should I call you if we meet again? What if you were in danger and I should call you but I didn’t know your name? Bad things would happen to you!” Hoseok whined with his childish frown.

Kihyun thought for a second. He knew how to protect himself from wild animals, thanks to his father who had taught him for years. He knew how to use his words to make people think twice before attacking him. He was perfect and he didn’t need any of Hoseok’s strength to walk into the woods.

“I heard you calling me with something when we were in the cave,” Kihyun said.

Hoseok was standing there, gaping at the human’s words. He remembered _exactly_ what he had referred Red Riding Hood as earlier. He knew the young man would hear him, but he didn’t expect Red Riding Hood was going to talk about it.

“I know you remember it, Hoseok,”

Hoseok sighed, defeated. “Yeah. Why?”

“What did you call me?” Kihyun gave him a smirk.

“I called you as _Pretty Red Riding Hood_ ,”

Red Riding Hood nodded proudly. Pride was written all over his face, it drove Hoseok crazy. Hoseok wanted to wipe off the smugness on the human’s face.

“Call me that,” Red Riding Hood said, “also, please exclude the pretty,”

“But, you _are_ pretty,”

“Shut up.”  Kihyun let go his hand, walking by himself.

He thought Hoseok would left, but he was wrong. Hoseok was still following him, showing his ears and tail to the whole world like he didn’t even care. He was walking confidently, trying to keep up with Red Riding Hood.

“Which one is your house?” Hoseok asked.

Kihyun pointed at a small house which was the nearest to the forest. Hoseok hummed as the respond, looking at Red Riding Hood’s house.

“Do you live alone?”

“I live alone,”

“Where are your parents?”

Kihyun stopped at his track, already opening his mouth but then closed it with a quick smile. He walked to the front door, fishing out the key that was quite similar with the grandmother’s from his basket. Hoseok watched his movement, patiently waiting for the answer to his simple question. The wolf was analysing the young man who had unlocked the door and turned the knob.

“Did I ask a wrong question?”

Kihyun almost missed out the question from Hoseok since the wolf’s voice was really soft. It felt like he was talking to a baby, he was scared to make Kihyun upset. Red Riding Hood lifted his head, now paying attention to the wolf next to him.

“Are you uncomfortable for talking about your parents, Red Riding Hood?”

Kihyun gulped. His eyes were shaking even though he didn’t have any reason to start getting nervous because of a question from a wolf.

“I…”

“Sorry,” the wolf said quickly before Kihyun could say anything, “I won’t ask you about that again,”

All Red Riding Hood could do was giving him a nod. Then, it was awkward. Kihyun was looking at the wolf, while the wolf was staring at the beautiful sky. They didn’t share a word, both of them were standing there like two idiot people, until Hoseok cleared his throat and he finally took a look at Red Riding Hood’s eyes again.

“I should get going,” Hoseok mumbled, scratching his nape awkwardly.

“Yeah, be careful,” Kihyun said.

Hoseok stepped back from Kihyun, walked into the forest without missing any chance to turn to Red Riding Hood and smiled warmly. Kihyun was looking at him, giving him a nod before going into the house.

Kihyun locked the door and sighed. His heart shouldn’t be beating so fast. His stomach shouldn’t be feeling butterflies inside it. He was supposed to _hate_ any wolves in the world, including Hoseok. He was told to not interact with werewolves. In the end, Kihyun had broken his promise to himself.

 

 

Red Riding Hood was cleaning the kitchen when he realized they almost didn’t have anything to cook for today. He reassured himself that he had made his house spotless and it was time to leave the house and bought fresh ingredients from the market. He quickly wore his red cloak and took the travelling basket with him after he put his wallet inside it. Kihyun walked to the door and opened it, only to see a familiar figure in front of the door 

It was Hoseok.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Kihyun asked to Hoseok who was sitting in front of the door with his back facing Kihyun.

“Hm?”

Hoseok looked up, meeting Red Riding Hood’s annoyed and surprised face. He put on his warm smile to greet the human and stood up, now facing the other. Hoseok was being showered with the warm rays of the sun, it made Kihyun swore he could lost his sight by looking directly at the blinding smile Hoseok gave.

The wolf stood there, mumbled a greeting before looking at Red Riding Hood’s eyes. “Good morning, Pretty Red Riding Hood.”

Kihyun gapped at the name. Hoseok’s smile only went bigger and it was bothering Kihyun at its finest.

“Good morning to you, too. Also, I already told you _not_ to call me pretty,” Kihyun replied, “and you haven’t answered my question. What are you doing _here_?”

“I’m…protecting you!”

“Protecting me? I don’t need any bodyguard to protect me,” Kihyun said, leaving Hoseok.

“Where are you going?”

“To the market.” Red Riding Hood stopped on his track, turned his body and gave his best boring face to the wolf. “Do you want to join me?”

He didn’t need to ask twice, Hoseok nodded his head quickly with a big smile. The thing that Kihyun noticed while watching Hoseok hopping on his way to chase Kihyun was how his big ears bounced on his head and his tail was wagging like a happy dog. Showing big ears and fluffy tail in the middle of the crowded market wouldn’t be a good idea, Kihyun thought.

“Pretty Red Riding Hood is asking me to go on a date with him!” Hoseok shouted happily.

“I’m not! This is not a date!”

It was useless to say anything to object Hoseok’s words. The wolf was happy—it was weird to see a wolf being so happy—and Kihyun let him to feel happiness. Even if Hoseok were smiling and laughing over silly things, Kihyun would watch him in silence. He wouldn’t let his mouth to snap at Hoseok and made the wolf sad. Not today.

Kihyun’s thought was interrupted when Hoseok was suddenly standing in front of him, looking at him with his dark coloured eyes. “Hey, are you okay?”

Kihyun nodded and took off his cloak to tie it on Hoseok’s neck. The wolf was off guard.

_Why would Red Riding Hood give his cloak to a wolf?_

He didn’t ask a thing. Especially not when Red Riding Hood was looking at him intensely. His gaze wasn’t filled with anger, almost with no emotion, but the wolf was feeling warm all over his body. Red Riding Hood was shorter by a few inches than him and it made his heart beat even faster when the human was tiptoeing to lift up the hood over his head.

Both of them could feel each other’s gaze and their breath was tickling each other’s face. It was ridiculous to get a red face by a touch.

“Your face is red,” the wolf whispered, lifting his hand to brush his thumb on Red Riding Hood’s cheekbone.

Kihyun pulled himself back, took a step back instead of falling into the pit of dumb feelings he had dug. He cleared his throat, gaining back his confidence to cover the embarrassment he was suffering.

“I was thinking,” Kihyun said, fighting back the urge to run and hide from Hoseok, “we don’t want people to get freaked out because they see a man walking down the street with a big wolf ears attaching to his head. I don’t want to get us in trouble either,”

Hoseok was only staring back at Red Riding Hood. He wasn’t listening to any of the other’s explanation. The wolf was busy remembering the fondness in Red Riding Hood’s eyes when they were looking at each other. The sun had been up for several hours, but just by gazing at the human’s eyes, Hoseok could see a miniature of the starry sky.

 “Come on, we need to go to the market before it was too late to get fresh things,” Kihyun said, trying to snap Hoseok out of his head, “also, Hoseok, now you’re the one who will be Pretty Red Riding Hood,”

“I’m not _pretty_ , you’re the pretty one here!"

“Hoseok….”

“I’m telling you the truth, stop denying it, I know you like it.” Hoseok smirked cockily.

“I _am_ not!”

Hoseok frowned. “Does it mean I’m not allowed to call you Pretty Red Riding Hood?”

“I had told you from the first day, but you’re just ignoring me!”

“I’m disappointed,”

Kihyun smiled widely. Watching the wolf getting pouty and sulky made Kihyun wanting to protect him more even if Hoseok could snap other big wolves into two. He would do anything to bring back the sweet smile.

“You can call me Kihyun.” Red Riding Hood turned, leaving the sulky wolf behind.

“Okay, then.”

There was a disappointment and sadness in Hoseok’s voice and Kihyun was giggling without glancing back at the wolf. Hoseok was sinking into his sadness that he couldn’t call Kihyun as Pretty Red Riding Hood anymore because one, Kihyun lent him his cloak, and two Kihyun didn’t want Hoseok to call him pretty.

“Come on, big boy! Chin up, I just gave you my real name!”

“Huh?” Hoseok lifted his head, looking at Kihyun’s big grin. “Your name is Kihyun!”

Kihyun was laughing louder and louder, holding on his stomach since it was getting hurt because he laughed too much. “Hoseok! Why do you need time to realize that my name is Kihyun?”

“I was sad!”

“That’s silly!”

“I can’t hear you! I can’t see you and I don’t know who you are!” Hoseok covered his face with his big hands, groaning loudly.

“If you’re not coming, I’m going to leave you, Hoseok!” Kihyun shouted playfully.

“Kihyun, no! Stop!”

Kihyun laughed, started running to the market, followed by Hoseok behind him trying to catch up.

 

 

It was a success.

No one noticed that Kihyun had been walking through the market, buying things and interacting with people with a wolf next to him. A wolf with a big warm smile that had done some flirting to the vendors in order to get some discounts. Kihyun was more than grateful and he couldn’t hold himself from giggling. The old lady who was selling the pork was head over heels for Hoseok and she was willingly to give more bacon for them with the same price. Kihyun had politely refused the offer, but the lady forced him to take it. At the end of the day, Hoseok took it and showed his biggest smile to the lady.

“You should stop asking for free things to the vendors. They’re trying to get some money and you’re going to make their business go down,” Kihyun said once they had reached his house.

“It’s not my fault. I’m a wolf, have you ever heard that wolves charm people in order to take advantages of them?” Hoseok said playfully, “and one day, I’m going to make you fall for me, too,”

“Huh?” Kihyun raised his eyebrows, putting some interests in the conversation. “I’m not falling for your tricks. I’m not stupid like the others,”

Hoseok gasped, pretending to be shocked. “Don’t call them stupid!”

“I’m saying the truth.” Kihyun opened the door and when he realized Hoseok was only standing in front of the house, he smiled.

Hoseok was dumbfounded because of Kihyun’s smile. The human was looking at him, not saying a thing and Hoseok remembered he was still wearing the cloak. He turned his head to the left and to the right, making sure no one would walk to them as he took off the red hood.

“What are you doing?” Kihyun said with a glint in his eyes.

“Giving back your cloak I’ve borrowed,”

“I was going to ask you to come inside, but do you have any plans today?”

“ _Oh_ ,” Hoseok breathed, “you’re inviting me to your house. Okay,”

Kihyun giggled, tilted his head to give an unspoken invitation for Hoseok to come. “Make yourself at home.”

Hoseok put the cloak on the chair, trying not to make the fabric get wrinkles, before joining Kihyun in the kitchen. The man, whose back was facing the door, had his shirt sleeves rolled up until his elbows and was tying up his white apron with embroidery of small flowers on his waist. The basket which was filled with fresh ingredients was resting on the clean counter, accompanying Kihyun who was preparing himself.

Hoseok didn’t know how to cook. In fact, he had never tried the idea of cooking his food before. He was a wolf after all. As he watched Kihyun moved swiftly from one spot to others, he was captivated. The wolf was staring at Kihyun in his own space, handling all the human stuffs that Hoseok had never encountered before. The young man was humming to a song as he took the things he had bought out off the basket and Hoseok decided he would like to listen to Kihyun’s singing voice a bit closer.

Hoseok walked closer to Kihyun and put his hand on the latter’s shoulder. Kihyun quickly turned his head to Hoseok—a bit looking up at him because of the height difference that made Hoseok wanted to squeal inside—and smiled.

“What are we making today?” Hoseok asked.

“ _We_? Are you implying that you’re going to be my chef assistant?”

“Maybe.” Hoseok shrugged.

Kihyun huffed, shrugging Hoseok’s hand off his shoulder to walk away. Hoseok’s head followed Kihyun’s movement, wherever he went, Hoseok would follow him even it was only his eyes and head. He noticed Kihyun took another apron on the wall. It was the same colour, but cleaner than Kihyun’s. It had some embroidery of white flowers that couldn’t be seen from afar. He handed it to Hoseok without a word and the wolf took it as he mumbled a ‘thank you’.

The problem was that Kihyun didn’t tell anything to Hoseok. Completely anything, not even a single direction how to wear an apron correctly. He left the fierce wolf without guidance, leaving him to observe Kihyun. The wolf remembered how Red Riding Hood tied up his apron skilfully, without looking at his hands which were busy on his back. If Kihyun could do it easily, then Hoseok could do it too.

_Right?_

 

 

“Kihyun, help me,” Hoseok whined. 

“Oh my, Hoseok,” Kihyun mumbled as he looked at Hoseok, cleaning his hands on his apron, “what are you doing?”

“Don’t laugh at me, I don’t know how to wear an apron like you,”

Kihyun laughed. He laughed out loud until his eyes were teary and he wiped them with his clean hands. Hoseok was pouting, upset.

“Turn around, let me help you,”

And Hoseok did what he had been told. Kihyun took the apron from his hands and circled it on his waist, bringing the ribbon to his back and tied it tight yet comfortably.

“Thanks,” Hoseok said.

“So, the big bad wolf doesn’t know how to tie his own apron?” Kihyun teased.

“Excuse you, I’m not your _typical_ big bad wolf you would meet in the wild,”

“Then, what are you?”

Hoseok leaned his left elbows on the counter, facing Kihyun who was also doing the same. “I may turn into a big _kind_ wolf after I met you.”

“I’m not impressed with your cheesiness, Hoseok,” Kihyun sighed.

Hoseok swore he could see the corner of Kihyun’s lips twitched to form a smile. Kihyun was definitely impressed by Hoseok’s word, but he wouldn’t say it, Hoseok had been knew. Also, maybe throwing out some flirting in the kitchen was a really bad move and it made the whole situation awkward. Kihyun would only stare at the counter as he brought his finger to draw a pattern on it, while Hoseok was blatantly watching Kihyun.

“Uh, so,” Hoseok started, making Kihyun jolted up, “how do we cook the eggs, Kihyunnie?”

“K-Kihyunnie?”

Kihyun was dumbfounded with the nickname coming from the wolf. Hoseok was playing with him, he was teasing like a wolf should do. Kihyun shouldn’t fall for it, but his heart may have said something different. It was beating fast and hard, thumping loudly in his body. He didn’t like it. Kihyun had never liked the idea of liking a wolf. Especially having interest in Hoseok.

“You like that?” Hoseok asked.

“Like what?”

“The nickname,”

“No.”

“Yeah, you _definitely_ like it.”

“We’re going to cook four eggs. Two for you and two for me, is it enough?” Kihyun changed the topic quickly as he moved to pick the best eggs he had chosen.

“It’s more than enough,” Hoseok answered, “pretty Kihyunnie,”

“Ho—“

“Okay, let’s cook!”

“Hoseok!”

 

 

Kihyun sat across Hoseok who was staring at his plate of a toast, two sunny side ups, and three trips of bacon—which he had stolen one from Kihyun. The young man gave a fork and a knife to Hoseok, but the wolf didn’t respond. 

“Hoseok,” Kihyun called.

Hearing his name was being called made him look up, meeting with Kihyun’s eyes.  From Kihyun’s point of view, he could see how bright and clear Hoseok’s eyes were. The wolf didn’t even hide his excitement to see how beautiful the food he had made. He looked like a child who was looking at the candy in the sweet store.

“Hoseok the Wolf,” Kihyun called one again after Hoseok ignored him and went back to stare at his breakfast.

“Hoseok, you won’t be full if you’re keep staring at it!”

“I know, but they’re so pretty!” Hoseok now lifted his head to finally look at Kihyun properly. “But they’re not as beautiful as you, though. Don’t be jealous.”

Kihyun rolled his eyes and sighed. He wasn’t planning to be jealous on a plate of breakfast, but he was upset to the fact that Hoseok hadn’t touched the food they had made together. It wouldn’t be warm anymore once he finally finished adoring his plate.

“Also, I want to apologize,” Hoseok said, _finally_ taking his fork and knife like how Kihyun did it because once again, he observed and learned.

“What for?”

“For crushing the eggs with my hand,” Hoseok mumbled, “instead of _cracking_ it,”

Kihyun snorted, almost choking on his bacon. “It wasn’t even that bad! Stop being so dramatic about it!”

“But you said I almost burned down the whole kitchen, Kihyun!”

“I was messing up with you!”

“I’m still feeling guilty about it though.” Hoseok cut his bacon, stacked it on the toast and ate it together. “I’m embarrassed with the whole accident.”

“You’re still learning, it was your first time to cook and it turns out amazing, right? Your hands are big and you’ve never practiced to hold such a fragile things in your hand before, correct?” Kihyun continued eating his food, stealing back his bacon from Hoseok’s plate. “And, you, Mister Big Wolf, is able to be embarrassed?”

“I’ve experienced on holding fragile things with my hands,”

“Example?”

“You.”

Kihyun swore he wasn’t blushing. He didn’t like Hoseok. He hated him.

“Oh, your face is red again,” Hoseok said, “and I _also_ can feel the embarrassment,”

Maybe Kihyun was completely wrong.

 

 

Kihyun was washing the dishes when Hoseok suddenly asked him about his parents. It was an accidental question, but Kihyun was taken aback when he heard it. 

“Is there a reason why you’re always looking sad when I asked about your parents?”

Red Riding Hood hesitated for a moment before sighing as he rinsed the dishes. “They’ve passed away.”

“What happened?”

Kihyun gulped. His throat was tightening up, he shut his eyes. Since his parents had died, he had never slept peacefully at night. The memory of seeing his parents died always came to him like a shadow, following him around.

“It was because a wolf,”

“Ki,” Hoseok stood up from his chair, walking to Kihyun who was staring down at the sink.

Hoseok leaned on the counter, looking at Kihyun thoroughly. He looked serious, no mischievous found in his eyes. “What happened to them, Kihyun?”

“I was 7 years old, three of us were in the forest when suddenly a wolf came to us and killed my parents,” Kihyun cried, breaking down in front of Hoseok, “I thought it was just a dream,”

“It wasn’t,”

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t,”

“Do you trust me?” Hoseok asked as he cupped Kihyun’s face, “I’m a wolf, but I promise to you, I’m not going to hurt you. I’ll always protect you and your grandmother,"

Listening to Hoseok’s words made Kihyun’s heart hurt. At this point, he had thrown over the stereotype the villagers had stamped on the wolves, that the animals were vicious, to put all of his trust to Hoseok. Looking at Hoseok’s eyes, they were painted in honesty, it warmed Kihyun’s heart as well. Wolf’s hands were big, rough, but Red Riding Hood didn’t protest, instead he leaned to the touch, searching for the attention. The affection he got from the wolf was unexpected and he could feel his eyes became teary. He wanted to cry, wanted to let out his emotion in front of the werewolf for the first time since they met.

“Don’t cry, Kihyun.” Hoseok smiled as his thumbs were rubbing on Kihyun’s cheeks to wipe his tears. “I won’t leave you until you smile.”

Hoseok’s word was encouraging him, but Kihyun was already tearing up and he couldn’t bring himself to smile. He wanted to laugh, wanted to erase Hoseok’s worried expression, but instead of smiling, he was sobbing.

“Kihyun, I asked you to smile, not to sob!” Hoseok was panicking. “Did I say something wrong? Oh my God, I’m sorry!”

“N-No, I’m just feeling emotional,” Kihyun said, wiping his own tears, “I’m okay,”

Kihyun looked at Hoseok’s eyes, then smiled widely until it reached his eyes. Hoseok leaned closer and kissed the top of Kihyun’s head, making the human’s breath hitched.

“Hoseok,”

“You smell like a strawberry,” Hoseok said as he pulled away, “is that why you’re wearing red cloak?”

“I don’t see the correlation there,” Kihyun laughed and hit Hoseok’s chest playfully.

“I know. I’m just trying to make you laugh,” Hoseok said, poking Kihyun’s nose with his index finger lightly, “and you have a pretty smile,”

The compliment was simple yet sweet and it made Kihyun feel tingly all over his body. Kihyun would say he hated it, but he couldn’t find any reason. Maybe, he had fallen for the wolf.

 

 

It was a new day and Kihyun decided to visit his grandmother again. At this time, he had been thinking a lot about living with his grandmother. He would save a lot of time and he could take care his grandmother anytime, too. He had been saving his money a lot since he started selling apple pie to his neighbors and it was more than enough to fulfill his basic needs. He would ask his grandmother to move in with him. After all, the only family he had in the village now was only the sweet old lady. 

He had cleaned everything before leaving the house. With his red cloak and the travelling basket, he walked into the forest and reached the small house he knew.

The thing that surprised him the most was a big black wolf was sleeping outside the house, right on the door. It was sound asleep and Kihyun’s very last hope was to wake the wolf up. He walked carefully, tried not to make any sound, but unfortunately the world was against him and his right foot was happened to step on the dry leaves. The crunchy noise wasn’t loud, but it was enough to make the wolf open his eyes. Kihyun cursed inside his head and froze on his spot.

The wolf was staring at him until it decided to stand up, showing how big his body is. Kihyun was scared, but he didn’t move a single muscle. He let the wolf walk towards him, letting it sniff on his body. With his eyes, Kihyun followed the wolf’s movement. It was so up close and suddenly, the wolf lifted its head and stared at the human. It sat in front of Kihyun before howling softly. It was overwhelming for Kihyun to watch a wolf howling in front of him. Its voice was calming Kihyun instead of sending chills to his spine. It didn’t growl, it didn’t show his sharp teeth at Kihyun, its intention wasn’t to scare Red Riding Hood away.

When the human thought it wasn’t weird enough, the wolf came up to him and rubbed his head to Kihyun’s legs and body. There was no explanation at the behavior yet Kihyun wouldn’t complain. It felt like he actually had known the wolf since a long time to be accepted by the canine.

Or maybe, Kihyun _did_ know who the wolf was.

“Are you…Hoseok?” he asked softly.

The wolf sat again in front of Kihyun, howling softly—and even softer than the first one. There was a voice in his head that encouraged him to pet the wolf and he brought up his hand to the wolf’s head, started petting it with affection. The black fur was soft and fluffy, it made Kihyun wanted to ruffle the wolf even more, but before he could, the wolf had walked away and left him alone.

“Am I crazy? Maybe it was just a woodsman’s dog that looks like a wolf. It can’t be Hoseok,” Kihyun laughed at himself, then went to the house.

He unlocked the door, then went straight to the bedroom to see his grandmother was sitting up on her bed. She smiled when she saw Kihyun with the basket and greeted him.

“Good morning to you, too, Grandma,” Kihyun replied.

“Have you met my guest?” Grandma asked, getting a weird look from her grandson.

“I only saw a black wolf in front of your house,”

“You’ve met the guest!”

“It didn’t do anything to you, right?”

“No, it’s a good wolf. Last night, I saw it was walking from the forest and then it slept on the door,” Grandma said, “I feel like it was protecting me,”

_A wolf was protecting his grandmother._

“Grandmother, I think it’s better for us to live together,”

“Oh my, won’t it be difficult for you? I don’t want to burden you with my condition,”

Kihyun shook his head. “No, I have enough money for us. You’re the only one who’s still staying in here and there are wolves here that aren’t as kind as the black wolf we have seen. I’m worried for your safety."

His grandmother smiled, thinking about the offer. “Okay, I’ll live with you, but I think I’ll need a hand to pack up my things.”

Kihyun had never been this happy before. Finally, he wouldn’t be living alone in his house. He would tell Hoseok about the news.

 

 

“Grandma, I’m going back, okay? Don’t forget to eat,” Kihyun said from the doorway and getting a reply from the old lady. 

He quickly went out, putting up his hood and locked the door from outside. When he turned around, he jumped when he saw Hoseok was standing behind him, looking tired.

“Hoseok! You scared me!”

Hoseok chuckled as he ruffled his hair, “yeah? Sorry,”

The reply was dry. It was like Hoseok was too tired to even form a long sentence. Kihyun didn’t like seeing Hoseok in a bad condition like this. He reached for Hoseok’s black hair and combed it with his fingers.

“What happened, big wolf?”

“Kihyunnie.” Hoseok stared at Kihyun with his puppy eyes. “I’m so hungry.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t bring you anything,” Kihyun said with apologetic smile, “but I keep a bread for me to eat on the way home. Eat this. I haven’t eaten it and you need it more than me,”

He took out the bread and gave it to Hoseok who received it with a big grin on his face. “Kihyun, thank you so much! You’re my savior. I thought I was going to die like this, but then you’re here.”

“Stop being so dramatic,”

“May I come to your house?”

“I’m afraid the villagers would spot you,” Kihyun answered, “but I need to talk to you as we walk,”

“Sure.” Hoseok started walking, keeping his pace slow so Kihyun could use his time to talk as long as he wanted.

“My grandmother agreed to live with me,” Kihyun said while looking at his feet, “after she moves in with me, I won’t meet you again,”

“Are you worried for me?” Hoseok teased.

“I am,”

“Why?”

“There’s no reason,”

“Huh,”

“I’ll miss you, though,” Kihyun said, now looking at the wolf next to him who was busy chewing the bread.

“I’ll miss you, too,”

“Do you have a home or a shelter? I can meet you there,”

“Yeah,” Hoseok answered after finishing the bread, “it’s you,”

“Pardon?”

“ _You_ are my home, Kihyun,”

Hoseok was looking at him again. Their eyes were staring through each other’s soul. Hoseok was caught up in the miniature of galaxy in Kihyun’s eyes, while Kihyun was lost inside Hoseok’s mysterious yet comforting dark eyes. They stopped walking, didn’t say anything, yet it wasn’t awkward. Kihyun could feel his heart was beating faster, threatening to break out from his ribs.

“Kihyun,” the wolf whispered, “I’m still keeping my promise to you,”

“Pardon?”

“Did your grandmother talk about a wolf showing up in front of her house?”

“Yes, was it you?”

Hoseok showed him the fondest smile—it tingled Kihyun’s stomach. “Yeah.”

The wolf thought it would bring a big smile to Kihyun’s face. He thought Kihyun would be happy to hear that Hoseok was holding on to his promise. _He was wrong_.

Hoseok didn’t like it when he saw Kihyun started tearing up. It was a thing that Hoseok had just noticed while getting in touch with Kihyun for several days—Kihyun would start crying when he was stressed over some things. The wolf would do anything to assure the human that he would be fine even if he was living by himself for years. He may not living with a pack that he needed to protect, but he was living for Kihyun who was starting to become the most important person in his life. He had dedicated his life to protect the one he loved and Kihyun’s only family, his grandmother.

Kihyun wiped his tears with the back of his hand, while the other hand was clutching at the basket. His face was red and his lips were glistening. Hoseok hated to say this, but Kihyun looked ethereal.

“Kihyun,” Hoseok said in a soft voice.

He reached for Kihyun’s face, cupping it fondly like what he did in the previous day. With his hand, Hoseok tucked Kihyun’s hair behind his ear so he could see the human’s beautiful eyes. Hoseok smiled and it successfully made Kihyun smiled also even though it was a quick simple smile, but it made Hoseok’s belly flipped.

“May I kiss you?”

Kihyun’s red lips were ajar and his eyes lit up. There was a silence between them, but Hoseok waited for Kihyun patiently. He waited until finally Kihyun held Hoseok’s hands on his cheeks and nodded. There was no rush, Hoseok leaned slowly, looking at Kihyun’s beautiful lips. He took his time to adore Kihyun’s feature up close—how red Kihyun’s cheeks were, how his lids were fluttering, how smooth and red his lips were, and Hoseok was counting the beauty marks the other had on his beautiful face. The wolf was looking at an art and he would take his whole life to appreciate it.

Their breaths were tickling—Kihyun giggled from it, making Hoseok joined him. It wasn’t long until Hoseok closed the gap between them and connected his lips with Kihyun’s. It was overwhelming. Hoseok had been imagining how soft Kihyun’s lips were, but he didn’t imagine that it would be _that_ soft. There was a faint taste of sweetness on Red Riding Hood’s lips. He moved his lips softly, guiding Kihyun on a sweet and calming kiss.

Kihyun squeezed Hoseok’s hand as Hoseok moved his lips languidly, not wanting to let go. Kihyun loved it. He loved the wolf, who was assumed by the people to be vicious, to shower him with endless affection. For the first time since his parents died, he finally remembered the feeling to be loved again. He learned how to love again.

No one was willingly to let each other go, but they were running out of breath. In the end, both of them pulled away slowly. Kihyun opened his eyes first slowly, watching Hoseok’s flushed face. It was amazing to see a brave wolf like Hoseok would start blushing as soon as he realized he had kissed the love of his life.

Hoseok opened his eyes, meeting Kihyun’s and it made him smile. It made him happy. He wanted to stay with Kihyun longer. He put his forehead on Kihyun’s and smiled widely.

“Thank you,” Hoseok exhaled, “for everything,”

Kihyun giggled, “It’s weird to see your romantic side,”

“This is the real me,"

Kihyun pulled away, touching Hoseok’s fluffy ears and scratching them. “What a big ears you have!”

“The better to hear you with,”

“Ugh, cheesy,” Kihyun protested, “I’m going to leave you here if you keep trying hard to be romantic,”

Hoseok acted like he was surprised, giving Kihyun a good laugh. Both of them knew, there was no way Kihyun would abandon Hoseok, so they started to continue their walk, once again holding hands.

“Why did you cry?” Hoseok asked.

“I don’t know, I thought you were only flirting with me and pulling all the lies wolves always said to trap humans,”

“I would never do that to you!”

“I know,” Kihyun praised him, “my grandmother was grateful for your accompany. She said you were a good wolf,”

“Thank God,” Hoseok laughed.

It was cliché to say that the wolf and Red Riding Hood walked together while laughing to their jokes until they reached the edge of the forest. When it was the time to say goodbye, Kihyun didn’t leave Hoseok right away, instead he opened his arms widely and embraced Hoseok into a warm and tight hug. He buried his face in Hoseok’s shoulder while Hoseok wrapped his arms around Kihyun’s waist.

“I love you,” Kihyun whispered—Hoseok almost missed it.

“I know,” Hoseok replied.

“Hold up.” Kihyun let go Hoseok, showing his unimpressed face at the werewolf. “You’re supposed to say it back!”

“ _It back_ ,” Hoseok said with a big stupid grin.

“You’re so dumb,” Kihyun whined, “I’m taking it back. Don’t ever think I still love you,”

“No, Kihyunnie! Come back! I’m sorry, I was playing with you!” Hoseok hugged Kihyun tightly, almost strangling the human in his arms.

“Okay, let me go!”

“I’m not going to let you go!” Hoseok said, “what if other men start flirting with you when I’m letting you go from my arms?”

“Hoseok, there’s no one who wants to flirt with me except you!”

“There’s none?”

“Except my neighbor who always buys my apple pie,”

“No! I’m not letting you go!”

“I’m joking! Stop squeezing me, I’m going to die for real!”

It was the funniest thirty minutes in Kihyun’s whole life and it was because he spent his morning with Hoseok.

 

 

Kihyun was overly-excited when he came back to his grandmother house and found the big black wolf sitting in front of the door. It was looking straight and Kihyun, but the human wasn’t scared at all. He had known that the wolf was Hoseok, why would he be scared? Hoseok howled, making Kihyun smiled and ran to Hoseok to hug him.

“Good morning, Hoseok,” Kihyun greeted, earning himself a howl from Hoseok, “since you’re already here, should we surprise Grandmother? I hope she’s happy to see you,”

Hoseok didn’t reply anything, but his eyes lit up like a family dog. Kihyun wanted to squish his cheeks and cooed at him, but he knew Hoseok would make fun of him when he turned back to his human form. Kihyun wouldn’t take any risk.

Red Riding Hood had unlocked the door, but Hoseok also had gone back to the forest. Kihyun didn’t have any idea what was going on with wolf until Hoseok in his human form came back to Kihyun with that iconic stupid smile. Kihyun wanted to wipe the grin from the wolf’s face, but he knew he would miss it a lot.

“I’m ready to meet my grandmother,” Hoseok said. 

“ _Your_ grandmother?” Kihyun lifted his eyebrows, clearly showing interest with the conversation.

“I’m your wolf boyfriend, shouldn’t I call your grandmother as _my_ grandmother, too?”

“What,” Kihyun said flatly.

“What?”

“Don’t repeat my word, Hoseok,” Kihyun said, “what did you say? You’re my wolf boyfriend?”

“Yeah,” Hoseok answered as he shrugged, “I’ve hold your hand, I’ve touched your face, I’ve hugged you, I’ve kissed you. It’s what couples do,”

“I—“

“Anyway, let’s get in,”

Kihyun was left in the door way as he saw Hoseok getting into his grandmother’s room. Kihyun shook his head out of his thought and followed the werewolf into the room.

It was weird and awkward to see Hoseok was standing next to the old lady’s bed while they were staring at each other. Hoseok was smiling, his grandmother was smiling, but Kihyun couldn’t bring himself to the same expression the others were having at the moment. He was stunned.

“Hello, young man,” the old lady greeted with warm, “may I know who you are?”

Hoseok’s tail was swaying, he bit his lips, and Kihyun noticed Hoseok was fumbling with his fingers. “My name is Hoseok. I’m the wolf that you’ve seen for several days.”

“You’re a werewolf,” Grandmother said, “thank you for visiting me,”

“I wasn’t planning to visit you. It wasn’t a simple visit,” Hoseok said, “I’m trying to protect you,”

“Thank you,” Grandmother said once again, making Hoseok’s smile went bigger than before, “and are you Kihyun’s friend?”

“I’ll say we’re more than friends,”

“Hoseok—“

“Tell me about it,”

Kihyun swore he could see his grandmother was going to tease him endlessly. His grandmother was expecting this since the first time they stepped into her room!

“I’m Kihyun’s boyfriend,”

“Oh my God, Hoseok,” Kihyun mumbled, covering his face with his hand.

“My grandson is an adult, I see,” the old lady replied, she was amused.

“I don’t want to make you think that all wolves are hating on human because I care about Kihyun and you. I’ve never had any interest on hurting Kihyun. All I want to do is to protect him and giving him all the happiness and love he deserve,”

Kihyun could feel his face was burning. It was amazing to listen to what Hoseok truly thought of him. It wasn’t just the mouth speaking, it was his heart. He noticed how nervous Hoseok when he was talking to Kihyun’s grandmother. He was clenching and unclenching his fist—it was the first time for Kihyun to see Hoseok being this nervous.

“Kihyun means a lot for me, Hoseok,” she said, “and I know you’re telling the truth when you said he was the most important person for you,”

“Yes,” Hoseok breathed, “it’s the truth,”

“I can see Kihyun’s getting nervous, too.” She threw a smile to Kihyun whose face was getting red.

“Grandmother!”

She laughed, but then continuing with a smile staying on her lips, “please take care of Kihyun, Hoseok. Maybe Kihyun has told you that I was going to live with him, but you should know that you’re welcomed to visit us,”

“He’s allowed to do that?” Kihyun asked.

“Well, he’s my grandson’s boyfriend, should I not allow him to see his boyfriend?”

Hoseok turned his head to Kihyun, smiling so wide that Kihyun was scared he would split his face into two. Hoseok was declaring that he had won over Kihyun’s grandma’s heart.

“Fine,” Kihyun said as he was trying to hide his flushed face.

“Welcome to the family, Hoseok,”

Hoseok didn’t hide the fact that he was smiling widely as he hugged the old lady and making her laughed. Kihyun was more than happy to finally see his grandmother and his big wolf getting to know each other. This was what it felt like to be loved and to love again.

 

 

“Kihyun,” Hoseok whispered as his fingers kept stroking Kihyun’s hair, “my pretty red riding hood,” 

“Hm?”

Kihyun was laying his head on Hoseok’s chest, listening to the wolf’s heartbeat while his index finger was tracing on Hoseok’s stomach. They were lying on the grass—Hoseok insisted it was clear from bugs. The sky was clear and filled with stars shining on them. The crescent moon was smiling at them, watching the couple cuddled up in the middle of the night.

It was Hoseok’s idea to stargaze. Kihyun had declined him and had been so sure that the sky were cloudy and not suitable for stargazing, but he was wrong. Nature was so against him and it decided to clear the sky and went to support Hoseok so he could bring Kihyun to stargaze. Kihyun wouldn’t say it was a bad idea as he loved the thought of spending some nights with Hoseok wrapping his arms around him.

“I love you,” Hoseok whispered, loud enough to be heard by Kihyun.

“I know,”

Hoseok sighed, “are you bringing up that again?”

“Yes,”

“It was a mistake, okay? I’m sorry! I had apologized hundreds times and you still decided to talk about it again!”

“Is my big baby getting angry?” Kihyun lifted his body to sit and look at Hoseok’s face.

“Yeah, you’re ruining our moment,”

Kihyun laughed, making Hoseok frown even more. He leaned down to cup Hoseok’s face and kissed his lips softly.

“Remember when I always teased you about your big ears and your big smile?” Kihyun asked.

“Of course. Are you having more ideas?”

“You have a big smile and it’s irritating to see your dumb smile because I’m afraid you’ll break your face into two. You also have big muscle, but both of us know you only use your big arms to hug me,” Kihyun said.

“Do you want to know what’s bigger than all of those?” Hoseok asked, raising his eyebrows to tease Kihyun.

“I swear to God if you start throwing some dirty jokes, I’m gonna—“

“It’s my heart,”

Kihyun sighed before he stood up and walking from Hoseok. “I’m leaving you.”

“Kihyunnie, wait! Don’t leave me! Come back here and love me!” Hoseok chased Kihyun until he could reach the latter and hugged him from behind. “I won’t let you go before I heard you saying that you loved me!”

“Hoseok, this is stupid,”

“My love for you isn’t,”

“Fine.” Kihyun gave up and turned his body to look at Hoseok. “I love you.”

“You’re saying that, but you’re not using your heart.” Hoseok frowned. “Try again.”

“My dumb big wolf.” Kihyun circled his arms on Hoseok’s neck, pulling him into a kiss with a fond smile. “I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, I hope you like it ; w ; I swear I planned this to be less than 5k words but oh well. Also thank you for my beta-readers, @inamillion_ and @kyeohamzzi who have supported me and being crackheads together with me!!!!!
> 
> find me on [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/ktgwando96) or [ cc ](https://curiouscat.me/ktgwando96)
> 
> thank you for reading my work!


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